THE German invasion of ­Wembley tomorrow will feel ominous and threatening as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund gatecrash the home of English football.

Hitzlsperger: "We play good football, but we want an end product and we aim to win in style."

It should be of some comfort then that envious glances will not simply be cast at the Champions League trophy as they take to the pitch, but also the clubs that adorn the back of the gleaming silverware.

Look beyond the dominance of Barcelona, and Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all feature – their names engraved on the cup as history was writ large in Moscow, Munich and Istanbul. Make no mistake, Germans are jealous.

“I don’t know why you in England are always complaining,” said Thomas Hitzlsperger, the former Germany midfielder.

“The last time a German team won the Champions League was in 2001 when Bayern Munich beat Valencia. During the period since, three English teams have won it. We have young players who are great to watch but, at the last World Cup, the country did not win anything, or at the Euros.

“That is the criticism Joachim Low, the national team manager, gets from the fans. It is great watching, but we don’t win anything. And it’s the same at club level. This year the final is a reference point and, fortunately, a German team will win. That could be the start of something great for German football. It could be a one-off.

“Bayern have been in the final three times in four years now, which is a great indication of their strength. But it is about winning trophies.

“Chelsea won the Champions League last season and the Europa League last week. There is a lot of money in England and who knows? It could be the Manchester clubs next season.

“So it can’t be that bad in England.

“The problem is when you spend a lot of money on foreign players all the time rather than bringing English kids through.

“That is what needs to change.”

Such a change was introduced in Germany some time ago, and it is one from which the country is now reaping the benefits.

However, that Bayern win, on penalties in the San Siro 12 years ago, came amid a period of much soul-searching.

Elimination at the group stage of Euro 2000, having lost against the English en route, prompted Germany to finance restructuring and improving the youth level.

Hitzlsperger, who began his career as a youth at Bayern, won the Bundesliga while at Stuttgart and spent last season at Everton, his third Premier League club following spells with Aston Villa and West Ham. He added: “The turning point was Euro 2000.

Manchester United hail another English triumph in 2008

The problem is when you spend a lot of money on foreign players all the time rather than bringing English kids through

Thomas Hitzlsperger

“People said the way we were playing was no good, we were not getting anywhere; two years later we got to the final of the World Cup. But there was a feeling that we couldn’t always hope to win something out of nothing. And that is why it changed.

“The youth teams and academies changed and the clubs invested in young players. That is why we have been seeing them come through. It is not just Mario Gotze, Marco Reus or Mats Hummels. There are so many; and that is why it is so great for German football.”

The opening of St George’s Park last year represents a long-overdue acceptance from the English FA that youngsters need better coaching if the national team are to flourish once more. But the game of catch-up remains. Where an appearance in the semi-finals of a major tournament would prompt an open-top parade through London, Hitzlsperger says that while it took time to shake off a similar outlook in Germany, now the focus is on prizes, not plaudits.

“We had the same mentality,” he said. “At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, we finished third and there was a great reception in Berlin in front of 300,000 or 400,000 people.

“But Matthias Sammer [then technical director of the German FA, now Bayern’s sporting director] said, ‘Why are we doing this?’

“After the Euro 2008 final when we lost to Spain he said, ‘Why are people saying we have done well? We have not won anything’. That’s the mindset now. We play good football, but we want an end product and we aim to win in style. That’s what keeps us going.”

So on to tomorrow. Hitzlsperger joined Bayern at seven and spent 11 years there before joining Villa. His bond with the champions is strong, but he has a yearning for Dortmund and their impressive coach Jurgen Klopp to prevail.

“Klopp is so charismatic that he’s a huge part of the success,” he said.

“But Gotze has signed for Bayern, Robert Lewandowski might go, while Klopp fancies himself at a really big club in England or Spain. All that would be tough for Dortmund to take.

“Bayern deserve to win for the way they’ve been playing all season, but I have a hankering for Dortmund. They are a young team who might not be as good next season.

“I don’t really mind, though. We are just so happy a German team will bring the trophy back – along with the towels they put down beforehand.”